What 2005 Bordeaux are you drinking?

WINE TALK
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20th anniversary of this vintage so I took a pair of 2005’s to dinner last weekend. Here are my notes:

2005 Château Malescot St. Exupéry
Decanted 2 hours before dinner. Soft crumbly cork. Mildly sedimented. Crimson color. Plum, ripe black fruit and charcoal notes. Medium to full bodied. The tannins were more integrated than when I last had this in 2014. An earthy finish. Give this time. 95 points.

2005 Château Latour-Martillac
Decanted 2 hours before dinner. Lightly sedimented. Solid cork. Leather, currant and pencil lead notes. integrated tannins. A well integrated wine and in a very nice drinking spot now. Smooth finish and more open at the present time. 92 points.

VM

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The Malescot is really lovely, but it needs a long air time to really show its stuff. I ‘wasted’ the first couple of bottles I opened by not giving it enough time and thought it was a bit ‘meh’, but when I finally treated it properly it really rewarded.

Best wine I have tested in the vintage so far has been the Smith Haut-Lafitte - we did a tasting against a Lynch Bages and a Pape Clement and it was by far the best.

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Sitting on cases of LMHB.

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I opened an '05 Nenin just before Christmas and was blown away. If you still like a bit of primary fruit but with lots of secondary characteristics, this one is great to open now. Raspberries and truffles for days.

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Can’t afford chairs at the noodle shop? :rofl:

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Watching this for my 2005 daughter.

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In the last year or so:

Château Croix de Labrie
Pichon Baron
Cos d’Estournel
Lascombes
Kirwan

Of these I may have liked the PB the most but felt that all of them with the exception of the Croix de Labrie could use more time.

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A case each of Branaire and Quinault, but I haven’t tried either of them yet.

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Decided to try a '05 Branaire Ducru tonight. For me, this is a Bordeaux that in general drinks very well young. I burned through my 2000’s like beer on a hot summer day. The 05 is a nice medium bodied wine. Kind of a mix of dark red and black fruit with a super smooth finish with tannins that linger. Drink or Hold.

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In the last couple of years have really liked d’Issan and Brane Cantenac

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Had a 05’ Ducru-Beaucaillou and Pontet-canet. Both were excellent but the table did enjoy the Ducru much more. Pinter took a bit to open up and was def the lighter of the two. Ducru was just incredible right of our bottle. Neither are at peak I felt but drinking well

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Have only opened one in the last 4+ years, and that was a Grand Puy Lacoste about a year ago. Verdict: do not open now, or anytime soon.

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Lots of recent, positive CT notes on d’Issan.

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PnP. The Barbaresco was sadly corked but the Pavilion Was spot on. Still quite a bit of fresh raspberry, raspberry sauce, plum, violet, crushed leaves, tobacco leaf. Wish there was another bottle

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Underrated and underloved red in many vintages. I had a 1996 recently that showed extremely well.

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Both Rauzan Segla and Le Gay. Coravin - a glass of each each night the last couple of nights.

Both are in similar spots. They need some serious time to open and they both could chill out a bit more. If you’re going to open either I suggest a 2-hour decant at a minimum.

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Pichon Baron, my favorite super second en primeur, is beginning to show signs of emerging out of its dour adolescence. Tasted alongside the 1989, a couple of months ago, the two are incredibly similar, with the obvious differences in development. Good fruit, nice balance, similar tannins and finish.

I also taste the VCC regularly out of half bottle, and it is consistently excellent, although a few more years will tidy up some of tannic structure. I suspect out of bottle it will need even more time.

Final data point, Rauzan Segla, the most evolved, and in early maturity. And it is a beautiful wine, with a gentle power, and fine balance. If you are curious about the vintage, this is an excellent example of how good it is and likely to become.

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Seems like in a lot of vintages in a lot of places, at about 20 years old a lot of wines start turning the corner and start drinking well. Does not mean they will be fully mature, but the fruit will be re-emerging and the hard tannins will be starting to recede. Have had that recently with a couple of 2005 red Burgundies. Not grand crus, but villages wines and premier crus.

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All my illegal……er, uh…employees have fled recently, forcing me to hire MAG….er, uh……whit……er, uh……overpaid, unskilled labor.

So, I have to cut corners somewhere, especially as the food ingredients are already as cheap as possible.:face_vomiting:

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My generalization about 2005s is that they are not all showing the over-extraction and excessive ripeness that was cause for concern early on. Many are starting to drink well but are still on the upslope and have yet to demonstrate any classic aged complexity. Probably not gonna happen for the hyper-modern and the over-extracted hot messes. I’m still hopeful for the others.

Angelus - icky sweet/raisiny, couldn’t get past an ounce or so. Surprisingly better after a day in the fridge, still very ripe/modern but drinkable.

Bellevue Mondotte - also a hot mess, objectionable amounts of VA. Tried the fridge trick but it only got worse.

Clinet has come out of its shell and is drinking well but still no real aged complexity.

Clos L’Eglise - very ripe/modern but good balance, needs a couple of hours in a decanter.

Larcis Ducasse - ripe, lush, modern, served to some Napa cab-loving friends and it would have made a good ringer for a rich pricey Oakville cab.

Pape Clement - plenty of modern lush ripe fruit but not enough to overwhelm the tobacco, earth, and dusty gravelly notes I want from this commune.

Pavie - hyper-modern cocktail wine, huge, alcoholic. I’m occasionally in the mood for this style but one glass is my limit. Good substitute for a pre-dinner Scotch.

Pichon Baron - awake from the deep sleep, well-balanced with good fruit, medium long finish, drinking well but still on the upswing, no real aged complexity yet.

Pontet Canet - in a similar place as the Pichon Baron, drinking well but not fully mature. Lots of ripe fruit but not sensing any over-ripeness or over-extraction.

Talbot - starting to show a bit of aged complexity, drinking well, tannins come to fore on back end.

Still waiting to try:
Ducru Beaucaillou
Haut Bailly
L’Eglise Clinet
Palmer
Trotanoy

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